Google Compute Engine Target Instance
This page shows how to write Terraform for Compute Engine Target Instance and write them securely.
google_compute_target_instance (Terraform)
The Target Instance in Compute Engine can be configured in Terraform with the resource name google_compute_target_instance
. The following sections describe 3 examples of how to use the resource and its parameters.
Example Usage from GitHub
resource "google_compute_target_instance" "default" {
name = "target"
instance = google_compute_instance.target-vm.id
}
data "google_compute_image" "vmimage" {
resource "google_compute_target_instance" "this" {
description = var.description
instance = var.instance
name = var.name
nat_policy = var.nat_policy
project = var.project
resource "google_compute_target_instance" "target" {
project = var.project_id # Replace this with your project ID in quotes
name = "target"
zone = "us-east4-c"
instance = google_compute_instance.vm.id
}
Parameters
-
creation_timestamp
optional computed - string
Creation timestamp in RFC3339 text format.
-
description
optional - string
An optional description of this resource.
The Compute instance VM handling traffic for this target instance. Accepts the instance self-link, relative path (e.g. 'projects/project/zones/zone/instances/instance') or name. If name is given, the zone will default to the given zone or the provider-default zone and the project will default to the provider-level project.
-
name
required - string
Name of the resource. Provided by the client when the resource is created. The name must be 1-63 characters long, and comply with RFC1035. Specifically, the name must be 1-63 characters long and match the regular expression 'a-z?' which means the first character must be a lowercase letter, and all following characters must be a dash, lowercase letter, or digit, except the last character, which cannot be a dash.
-
nat_policy
optional - string
NAT option controlling how IPs are NAT'ed to the instance. Currently only NO_NAT (default value) is supported. Default value: "NO_NAT" Possible values: ["NO_NAT"]
-
project
optional computed - string -
self_link
optional computed - string -
zone
optional computed - string
URL of the zone where the target instance resides.
Explanation in Terraform Registry
Represents a TargetInstance resource which defines an endpoint instance that terminates traffic of certain protocols. In particular, they are used in Protocol Forwarding, where forwarding rules can send packets to a non-NAT'ed target instance. Each target instance contains a single virtual machine instance that receives and handles traffic from the corresponding forwarding rules. To get more information about TargetInstance, see:
- API documentation
- How-to Guides
Tips: Best Practices for The Other Google Compute Engine Resources
In addition to the google_compute_disk, Google Compute Engine has the other resources that should be configured for security reasons. Please check some examples of those resources and precautions.
google_compute_disk
Ensure the encryption key for your GCE disk is stored securely
It is better to store the encryption key for your GCE disk securely. Secret Manager could be used instead.
google_compute_firewall
Ensure your VPC firewall blocks unwanted outbound traffic
It is better to block unwanted outbound traffic not to expose resources in the VPC to unwanted attacks.
google_compute_instance
Ensure appropriate service account is assigned to your GCE instance
It is better to create a custom service account for the instance and assign it.
google_compute_project_metadata
Ensure OS login for your GCE instances is enabled at project level
It is better to enable OS login for your GCE instances. Enabling OS login ensures that SSH keys used to connect to instances are mapped with IAM users, allowing centralized and automated SSH key management.
google_compute_ssl_policy
Ensure to use modern TLS protocols
It's better to adopt TLS v1.2+ instead of outdated TLS protocols.
google_compute_subnetwork
Ensure VPC flow logging is enabled
It is better to enable VPC flow logging. VPC flow logging allows us to audit traffic in your network.
Frequently asked questions
What is Google Compute Engine Target Instance?
Google Compute Engine Target Instance is a resource for Compute Engine of Google Cloud Platform. Settings can be wrote in Terraform.
Where can I find the example code for the Google Compute Engine Target Instance?
For Terraform, the philipphomberger/terraforms-gcloud-windowsvm, niveklabs/google and freight-hub/terraform-modules-demo source code examples are useful. See the Terraform Example section for further details.